Ant Sharwood says: Karl strikes the right chord
Mornings are busy at my place. Brekky, early Punch work with the laptop, school lunches to make, whingey kids, the double dropoff, you name it. As you can imagine, there’s not a lot of time for brekky telly. In fact, it’s banned.
So obviously, I’m hardly the best person to judge Karl Stefanovic. I don’t think I’ve ever actually watched more than five minutes of Today. But just as most people judge politicians on fleeting impressions, Karl has always impressed me when he’s flickered across my radar.
I like Karl. He’s homey without being dumb. He’s intelligent without being a know-it-all. Tough balance to strike, that.
Back in the Stone Age, The Today Show was too boring and newsy with Steve Leibmann at the helm. Meanwhile, Seven burst in with Sunrise, smashing the mould of what breakfast television could be.
Mel and Kochie looked straight down the barrel of middle Australia, and connected. They weren’t talking at us, but to us. The hokey Grant Denyerisation of the show might have taken things a little too far, but their formula was a winner, and still mostly is.
Nine had no answer to that for a long time, as Stefanovic struggled to find his feet. But find them he did, even if he was occasionally a little unsteady on them. In fact, his hilarious drunken post-Logies morning shift on Today in 2009 was the making of him.
Sunrise would never have done that. They play their cards too conservatively, and can seem like cardboard cut-outs of themselves. Karl is real, and people like him for that. He’s polished, but not polished within an inch of his life. Who hasn’t turned up hungover for work before? Well, Mel and Kochie, to name just two.
Australians like a person with foibles. Remember how going to a new York strip club didn’t hurt Kevin Rudd’s popularity at the time?
That said, Karl has to remember the golden rule of success: don’t believe in it. His acceptance speech quip about the shape of his wife’s backside was woefully inappropriate.
Sexist or not, it was just plain silly. It was also a sign of overconfidence, a belief that his popularity is so strong he can get away with anything. As a TV man, he should know much, much better than that.
Lucy Kippist says: he’s up himself, and he’s cheesey
I reckon I’d like Karl Stefanovic more if he liked himself a bit less.
That cheesy, over-familiar way he has with the females he speaks to on television every morning really gets on my nerves. Why does he have to be so cocky? It’s a demeanour more appropriate for a high-school hunk than a national morning television presenter, who’s also just a little bit past his prime.
And what’s the shapeliness of his wife’s bum got to do with winning a Logie?
Better Homes and Gardens host Joanna Griggs called it well. Stepping up to accept her own award, she gently reminded Karl that this really wasn’t the time or place for “that kind of thing”.
Then again, The Logies aren’t really Karl’s finest moments are they? Who can forget last year’s efforts – when he turned up for work, still slurring from the night before?
If being a spunk and a bit of a player helps you win a Logie, then my vote’s with Prince Harry for next year’s awards. The guy tried to pick up his sister-in-law as they walked down the aisle together and still managed to come off smiling, with the media fawning over him as always. Now that’s star quality.
Tory Shepherd says: I’m warming to him…
A poor man’s Rove, I thought. Bland, unfunny, someone for bored stay-at-homers who haven’t had an adult conversation in weeks to drool over. Less a poor man’s Rove than just like Rove, really.
Frankly I’d never seen much of him. Not much of an early morning TV person. Always managed to miss him on 60 Minutes.
And then there was the now-notorious drunk footage of him the morning after the 2009 Logies.
I’ve never told anyone this before. It’s fairly embarrassing. But I found my brain went blank and my mouth inadvertently formed the word ‘cute’.
It was like some previously untapped hormonal duct had an instinctive reaction to him. Horrid.
I liked that he was still giggly at 5.30am, with no belligerence despite referring to himself in the third person. He was complimentary to Lisa Wilkinson. He was kind of funny. So now I’m pro-Stefanovic. Not enough to get up early to watch him. Not even enough to watch the Logies. But definitely, shamefully, (but finally, openly) in the pro camp.
What’s that? Did I hear he’d sworn off the booze? He spent the night on soda water and broke the up-all-night tradition? Gah. How boring! How pedestrian! I’m taking it back. Just another pretty boy. I take it all back.
Asher Keddie was ripped off. Boo!
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